LadyGypsy.net – the blog of Kimberly Dowd of New Jersey

Rabbit rabbit and happy April first! Today’s Friday Five is about “clean” – a subject that I’m pretty ambivalent on. I’m not a neat freak. I’m not even … neat. I live among clutter (except work, oddly enough) and I don’t mind. But anyway, here we go!

1. What’s in need of a good cleaning?
Max. Seriously. He needs a bath. Ollie had a grooming appointment a few weeks back and he is so snuggly and sweet and shorn. Max looks like a homeless Ewok.

2. What’s your idea of good, clean fun?
The TV program “Wipeout” which cracks me up every single Thursday. It’s funny, but not in a mean way.

3. How clean is your driving record?
Right now it’s completely clean. I have a lead foot so I’ve received my share of speeding tickets through the years. I haven’t had one since I lived in my Voorhees apartment and was still working the 5:30am – 2:00pm schedule. So…2001 or 2002. I miss that schedule, by the way.

4. When did you last make a clean escape?
I never do. Seriously. The people I work with, frankly, can slip out easily. “Oh yeah…I have a, uh, sales call. In … the town where I live. At, uh, 4:45pm. So, uh, I’m heading there now and I’ll TRY to come back but, you know, traffic.” Me? I’m the one being emailed at 4:58pm with a problem.

5. What are your feelings about dirty language?
I used to be so uptight about it all. Now all of my uptightness has been tied to one foul and dirty four-letter word which begins with “c” and if you say it, I turn into a ball of raging and angry fury.

As the years of my life fly by, young Ollie has gone from a goofball puppy to a dog with character. And while I adore puppies, I like seeing their real personality evolve. Ollie is no genius, but he’s very good at being a dog. And that’s fine with me.

Like most dogs, Ollie is a creature of habit. Every morning when I come out of the shower and head to the bedroom to finish getting ready, Ollie grabs a tennis ball and follows me in. As much as I’d love to play with him, I can’t. So he brings in a second ball in order to get his point across.

Play with me.

See that clock? I start work at 8:30. Yeah.

Once Ollie realizes that I won’t be tossing the ball, he decides to have fun solo. Which involves flopping on the bed.

Feel free to toss this ball.

Then when I sit on the bed to put my shoes on, he turns the cute meter to 11.

You can toss that ball anytime now.

Finally, my earrings are a sign to him that, sadly, I can’t play.

Maybe just a belly scratch?

Okay, Olliepeño. Just a belly scratch.

During all of this hullabaloo, Max is enjoying some non-Ollie time to himself in the other room.